


Betty

by It_It_ForTheLongHaul



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Betty - Freeform, Bughead Fest (Riverdale), Cheating, Folklore, Forgiveness, Gen, Heartbreak, In the mood for chaos, James - Freeform, Jeronica, Longing, Only 17, Pain, Party, Riverdale, Summer Thing, Taylor Swift - Freeform, Vughead, barchie, bughead - Freeform, cheryl blossom - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:47:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25762369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/It_It_ForTheLongHaul/pseuds/It_It_ForTheLongHaul
Summary: Jug fucked up... bad. He might have just done the worst thing he could ever do to Betty. All because he saw her dance with Archie at prom. Now he has to find a way to win her back.
Relationships: Archie Andrews/Betty Cooper, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones, Jughead Jones/Veronica Lodge
Comments: 7
Kudos: 17
Collections: Archie Andrews and Betty Cooper fanfictions, Rivedale, The best ship ever (Bughead)





	1. the worst thing that I ever did is what I did to you

**Author's Note:**

> Listen... ever since I’ve heard “betty” on queen Taylor Swift’s new album Folklore, I of course pictured Betty as Betty Cooper even before I heard the song. Once I listened to “betty”, I immediately though of James as Jughead OF COURSE and Cheryl is a classic gossip so BAM INEZ and Archie Andrews is the “him” that Betty danced with at Prom duh! So I got to thinking... since Riverdale will not be back until 2021 and Jug doesn’t know about Betty and Archie yet, why not have him find out, add some angst between bughead, have jug commit the worst mistake of his life out of heartbreak, and have bughead walk on broken cobblestones to patch their relationship back together. I give you betty.

“ the worst thing that I ever did, was what I did to you”

Jug fucked up. He fucked up bad.   
It all started 4 weeks before Prom. Betty had seemed off the past few days. Distant almost. He could not figure out why but for some reason she opted out of their latest sleuthing mission involving the infamous voyeur of Riverdale. But later that week, she came back. Finally she was confident that she wanted to be with him. They had a small moment of reconnection... during which Jug was writing his short story for the University of Iowa titled “Killing Mr. Honey”. That story plus the letter of recommendation from Mr. Honey (before he was brutally stabbed to death by masked killers) is what got him into UoI.   
Betty was of course happy for him, but also quite sad at the fact that they won’t be going to Yale together. They had to have the long distance talk and let’s say things got angsty. Jug made a comment about how they might not be able to still be together and have a future now that they will be going to different schools and Betty lost it. “I’ve fought for us Jug. I’ve worked with all of your school teachers and Mr. Honey to find a way for you to graduate, with me. So that we could stay together and have a future together. I thought you wanted that. I thought you would fight with every bone in your body just to keep us together. But this isn’t the Jughead I know. The Jughead I know wouldn’t think twice before defending our relationship. I guess prep school really does change a person.”  
Jug grew furious at this comment. He did defend their relationship. For the love of God, he dropped out of that school for her. He almost died for her. He gave up his spot at Yale for her. He has done everything in her interest and she can’t see that? “I did defend our relationship, Betty. I dropped out of that fucking school just to defend your name. It’s not my fault I didn’t get my spot back. What else was I supposed to do, just rot away as your dorm husband while you become a successful investigative journalist? I have a say in my life too. And UoI just happened to come to me and now I have a chance to do what I’ve wanted to do for so long and I am not going to give that up no matter what. I’ve lost too much already.”   
“So what happens after we graduate, huh? Are you just gonna ghost me and never talk to me again because our relationship won’t work? Because that is exactly what you sound like right now.”  
“I don’t know Betty, how are we supposed to still be together even if we are miles and miles away from each other?”  
“We have made long distance work in the past Jug.”  
“Ya, back when we could see each other ever weekend because I was one train ride away from home. This is college, Betty. I don’t think you wanna waste your money just to visit me for 5 minutes before you have to catch a plane back to New Haven. This isn’t about us anymore, it’s about our careers.”  
“How can you say such a thing Jughead? It’s like you don’t even have hope in us any more. It’s like you have given up on our whole relationship. Well I won’t have it, because guess what... turns out you aren’t the only one that loves me. Ya, Archie and I... we kissed! After that stupid fight you and I had about our future, I went to Archie’s and I kissed him. And he kissed me back. And it wasn’t just a peck on the lips. No it was romantic, slow, and tender. And it lasted for 5 fucking minutes.”  
Jughead was paralyzed at this point in their argument. He could not figure out what to say next because in that moment, his heart broke. Everything he thought he knew about Betty was completely shattered at this point. But he knew that he was growing furious, not just at his girlfriend but with Archie too. He felt completely and utterly betrayed. He couldn’t stand to look at her anymore but he had to tell her one last thing before he left. “I do love you Betty. Or at least I did. Now I’m not sure that I can love you the same anymore.”   
And with that, their relationship ended in slamming doors, and broken hearts.


	2. Betty I know when it all went wrong, your favorite song was playing on the far side of the gym

Betty and Jughead kept their distance from each other after their fight / breakup. Betty even switched her home room because she knew that Jug could not stand to see her and she could not stand to see him. She just hung out with Archie and Veronica (who did not know yet about the kiss either) and focused solely on graduating.  
But as time passed on, Jughead did not come back and Betty grew quite agitated at the fact he wasn’t fighting for their relationship. She had a lot of mixed feelings as she saw how happy Archie makes Veronica. His hand on her thigh, his arm around her back... Jug used to do that. But not anymore. She couldn’t figure out if she made her next move out of spite or jealousy...  
She texted Archie to come to the window that night and she “admitted” her feelings to Archie in the blue black light of the dark night. “I’ve been thinking about us, Arch. And I think it’s time to give us a try.” Archie could not figure out what to say next because he could not believe that she felt the same way. But he was also confused. She made it very clear to him that she loves Jughead, why would she be confessing her feelings now? “What made you change your mind?”  
“I guess I didn’t realize that the perfect guy was next door all along.” Even she couldn’t hear herself. What was she doing? She did love Jughead. But he seemed to have given up on their relationship and for that, she was heartbroken. She just could not believe that he wouldn’t come back to her. She would see him at school, but they would not so much even as glance at each other when they passed in the halls. And for that she was angry. She was angry that she lost him. But she still wanted to wait for him a little while longer, give him one more chance. “I don’t want you to do anything with that yet, I just thought you should know.” And with that, she left Archie confused, just as confused as she was.  
She waited another week, and then another week and Jug still would not so much as look at her for more than a second. She could tell he was depressed. I mean she left him with the notion that she loves Archie as well. But he also just decided to give up on their relationship too and for that she was very confused, angry, and hurt by the fact that it seemed like he didn’t care anymore. The next thing she did out of anger... purely to numb her broken heart.  
She marched right into the music room and found Archie playing his guitar. She did not stop in her tracks, she walked right up to him and kissed him with “passion”. He stoped to look at her for a moment, but he must have decided that he was into this because he kissed her back too and before they knew it, they were making out.  
They must have made out for more than a few minutes because soon, they were interrupted by Veronica holding a cupcake from Magnolia’s.  
“Archie I brought you-“ she could not believe what she was seeing... her best friend was kissing her boyfriend, the one that told her that she was all he needed. Bullshit.  
She just looked paralyzed, a lot like Jughead did when Betty told him about her and Archie’s kiss. But in her eyes, were heartbreak and hatred. His mouth was even covered in her fucking lipstick. Archie was just painfully looking at Veronica and what he got next, he had it coming... Veronica marched right up to Archie and smushed the cupcake against his face. “Your a fucking dick, Archie Andrews. Congrats on finally getting what you’ve waited for your whole life.” She then coldly looked at Betty who was almost as pained as Archie was, and she gave her the bitch stare, and slammed the door on her way out. Archie was frozen in confusion as was Betty. She looked at the smushed cupcake on his face.  
“Here, let me get that off for you.”  
She went over to the sink and wet some paper towels and walked back to Archie. He was now sulking on the bench confused as to what just happened. Betty pulled up a chair and sat beside him. She cupped her hands around his face and started to used the paper towels to clean his face. She looked at him, and then something strange happened. She was immediately flashed back to when she was at Jughead’s trailer, cleaning his face with hydrogen peroxide after he got in a fight with some ghoulies; he was smiling at her. She was back in the present, cleaning a heartbroken Archie’s face in the dimly lit music room. That achey feeling of missing the love of her life came back and she had to find a way to numb it again.  
“Do you wanna go to Prom, together?”  
Archie finally looked up at Betty. He looked into her eyes, there was that glossy look in them, that look when someone feels sad and lost. But he also saw a fantasy life where they could finally have their first dance on an actual dance floor, maybe they were happy.  
“Ok” said Archie softly.  
They just looked at each other for another minute before the bell rang for school.  
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”  
“Ya.”

Saturday: Betty decided to meet Archie at Prom instead of drive there with him. She was in a long, pretty gold dress (jug was going to wear a blue tux) and now she was just depressed. She wanted to go to prom with Archie to suppress her long for Jughead.   
When she arrived Archie was standing by one of the side tables wearing a black suit and red bow tie with his hair slicked back. “You look beautiful, Betty”  
“Thanks, Arch. Do you wanna dance?”   
Archie held out his hand and Betty took it and he led them to the middle of the dance floor.  
Lost by Emily Afton was playing. That was the song she and Jug had their first kiss to.   
Betty’s heart was aching again so she just rested her head against Archie’s shoulder, her hands around the back of his neck, his hands on her waist, slowly swaying back and forth to the song.   
Suddenly, Jug appears in the far side of the gym looking for Betty, trying his best to avoid the crowds. This was her favorite song, for some reason he thought that she requested it for him. But after scanning the dance floor for a while he found Betty... resting her head against Archie’s shoulder in the middle of a slow dance.   
As if his little heart could not take any more weight, it did. And it shattered because of it. He was so stupid to think his girl would wait for him to come back around or at least for her to say sorry about what she did. But he was wrong. Betrayal struck him once again and this time he was angry at himself for thinking that she would wait for him and not go back to pining for Archie. Now in that moment, it was clear to him that she loved Archie and not him anymore.  
He sulked back to his car, slammed the door, and broke down crying. He needed to get away from this...  
So he went to Pops and ate a shit ton of burgers and brooded like the old days. He noticed someone was looking at him though from across the diner. It was Veronica. He thought nothing of it and went back to eating his weight in heartbreak.


	3. She said “James, get in, let’s drive”

Meanwhile back at the dance, Betty just started to break down crying on Archie’s shoulder.  
“Betty, what’s wrong?” Archie put his hand on her back and led her away from the dance floor.  
Once they were away from the crowds near the far wall of the gym Archie finally got a look at Betty through the strobe lights flashing in the distance. She had mascara running down her face, her eyes were glossy with tears and she looked depressed.  
“I’m sorry Arch” Betty sobbed to Archie.  
“I thought this could work, I thought this relationship would help me forget, but it’s just too hard.”  
“Help you forget what Betty? Is everything ok?”  
“I pushed Jughead away” Betty cried.  
“We had this stupid fight about our long distance relationship and Jug didn’t seem to want it to happen so I yelled at him. And the fight escalated quickly to the point where I told him about our kiss. I guess I thought that I wanted to make him jealous? But I saw it Arch, I saw the love of my life’s heart break into a million pieces right then and there. It’s like I broke Jughead, Archie. And now- now he won’t talk to me or even look at me in the halls. I lost Jughead, Archie. And I want him back more then anything”   
Betty leaned against the wall and started sobbing into her hands.  
Archie comforted her by putting a hand on her shoulder  
“Listen Betty, I’ve been in love with you ever since you started dating Jughead. I guess I was angry at myself because I missed my chance with you. But as I watched your guy’s relationship grow over the years, it’s clear to me that he loves you. He’s smitten for you, Betty. He even told me that you saved him and he can’t imagine his life without you. He cares for you more than anyone in this world.” Archie hesitates a moment before completing his message.  
“And you care for him too, Betty.” Archie says reluctantly.  
Betty begins to uncover her face and look at Archie.  
“I look at you with Jughead, and Betty... you look the happiest you’ve ever been in your life. It’s like he completes you or something because you only express that kind of happiness when you are with him, not any other guy. Veronica was right, you guys are soulmates. Jughead is your real dream Betty, not me. I’ll admit, I was happy that you wanted to give me a chance earlier because I thought that it would be like nothing has changed and we could live out our dream fantasy together. But it’s clear to me now that everything has changed and I guess I haven’t learned to accept that. But after seeing you break down on the dance floor tonight, it’s clear to me that this is not the right thing for us. You miss Jughead, right?”  
Betty nods her head yes anxiously.  
“Then Betty, I’m not saying this to you as your former dream guy but as your best friend. Go get him back.”  
“What about Veronica? How do you plan on getting her back?”  
“I’ve fought a bear, I’ve been to prison, I’ve boxed the hell out of some guys, and I’ve won the state championship. I’ll jump off a building, drink poison even walk through fire if it means I can get Veronica back.”  
“It’s gonna be one hell of a reunion.” Betty slyly chuckles.

Back at Pops, Jughead is starting to feel uncomfortable by Veronica’s stares so he stomps over to her booth.  
“Listen, I don’t know what you think your doing, but I’ve had a fucking shitty night so I would appreciate it-“  
“- have you ever gotten revenge on someone Jughead?”  
Veronica questioned the broody heartbreak prince.  
“I’m the fucking serpent king, revenge is my job” Jughead scoffs at the rich girl with the dark lipstick hidden behind her signature noir fedora.  
“How would you like to make some bank to get back at your cold stone bitch of a girlfriend?”   
“You know about them too?”  
“Oh please Jughead, I’ve been burned before, but not like this. This feels like- like-“  
“Like a fucking grenade to the heart” says Jughead completing Veronica’s sentence.  
The air is silent for a minute as Jughead and Veronica process yet again what their love’s have done to them.   
Jughead was in so much pain after seeing Betty dance with Archie that his whole body felt numb. He also built up his anger, and he swears if he ever sees Betty or Archie again, he will fucking loose it. So that is why he hesitantly decided to join in on Veronica’s plan for some stone cold revenge on Betty Cooper and Archie Andrews.  
“What did you have in mind?”  
Veronica looks up at Jughead and a malicious smile crept across her face.   
“Karma is a fucking bitch, Jughead. Anyone who has listened to reputation by Taylor Swift knows this. So we are leaving... tonight. We aren’t coming back until rumors have stirred around town that you and I are indeed hooking up therefore causing our distressed lovers to break down under pressure. Once we get back, they will be begging on there knees to have us back.”   
“I fucking love this plan” Jughead snarls in anticipation. “How are we gonna leave though?”  
“You are going to go home, pack your bags, and tell your dad that you are feeling so fucked up that you need to get away for a while. I will do the same. Our parents will fucking believe us after all the shit we’ve been through. Then at midnight, you are going to meet me back here at Pops and wait for me outside. I will bring my Mercedes convertible around and you will get in and look all giddy and kiss me, and then we will set off to a place my parents have nestled in the mountains and wait until my phone blows up with rumors of Vughead and then head back home.  
“Is there at least video games and food there?”  
“Try a personal kitchen staff, a butler, and a movie theatre the size of the bijou.”  
Jughead thinks about this plan for a moment, he wanted to get back Betty more then anything. But he also wanted to give her and his best friend a taste of their own medicine.  
“Ok... I’m in” confirms Jughead.

Jughead arrives back home for the first time in 2 weeks after crashing with Fangs to avoid Betty and Archie.   
“Well it’s about time you came back home.” FP is sitting on the couch with a beer in his hand.  
“I’m just grabbing a few things dad” and Jughead walks upstairs. He enters he and Betty’s room which smells like sweet vanilla and roses, and is illuminated only by the love light board on the wall by the windowsill. His heart aches at the thought of missing her. He finds a duffle bag in his closet and fills it with all of his clothes and other belongings. If this plan is going to work, it’s going to have to look like he moved out completely.  
Before leaving, he decides he needs one more thing to get him through this time. So he reaches into Betty’s drawer and grabs the iconic S shirt he gave her a remembrance of him. Only now it smells like her after wearing it for over 2 years. He takes it and a picture of her off her bulletin board as a remembrance of her.  
When he gets back downstairs, FP notices that he has a lot of baggage with him and starts questioning him.  
“And just how long will you be leaving us boy?”  
“I’m heading out of town for a while dad. I need some space right now after everything that has happened. I just need to get some distance, clear my head.”  
“I know Betty broke your heart but there is a way for you guys to get back together I just know it.”  
“No, I think this time it’s permanent dad. My girlfriend made out with my best friend, what else is there to say?”  
FP realizes how broken Jughead is from having his heart break so he allows Jughead to go.  
“Just be careful, alright Jughead?”  
“I will be careful dad. I’ll see you soon.” And Jughead is out the door.

He arrives at Pops with all his baggage after walking 2 miles. He stops by the door to Pops and checks his watch. 2 minutes to midnight. Veronica should be here soon. Sure enough, she drives up to the restaurant, blasting pop music, her attire changed to summer.   
“Juggie, get in, let’s drive” hollers Veronica in a very fake upbeat way. Jug could cringe at the way she used the pet name Betty calls him. He reluctantly loads all his luggage into the back and gets into the passenger seat. Veronica told him to put on a show, so he will put on a show. He giggles as he hops into the passenger seat and kisses Veronica hard on the lips with no feeling. She looks at him and kisses him passionately with no feeling. Then they drive off, into the woods, until Betty’s heart breaks into a million tiny pieces after what she finds out.  
Someone was watching Veronica and Jughead lustfully drive away from Pops. Someone who drinks cherry liquor soda and wears cheery red lipstick. Cheryl Blossom.


End file.
